[WATCH] Ira Losco fends off backlash over ‘Walk on Water’

“I love this song and I believe in it because I believe it’s more modern and current” - the singer tells MaltaToday ahead of her second Eurovision outing

17 March 2016, 4:56pmby Martina Borg

Ira Losco: “I am making all the necessary preparations for the performance to make sure it becomes almost second nature, but knowing I have the support of my country will naturally give me an extra push.”

Ira Losco calls for support for ‘Walk on Water’ after dropping ‘Chameleon’ for Eurovision

Singer Ira Losco has called for the public’s support for her performance ahead of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, where she will be representing Malta at the contest for a second time, as an online backlash was unleashed after changing her winning song.

‘Chameleon’, with which she won the Maltasong festival that earned her place in Stockholm for the next Eurovision Song Contest, will not be Losco’s song entry.

The singer says that ‘Walk on Water’, her new song, “makes more sense in the context of the other songs in the contest.”

“I love this song and I believe in it because I believe it’s more modern and current, particularly after I heard many of the other songs in the competition,” she told MaltaToday.

Acknowledging the negative reaction from the general public, Losco called for the people’s support as the tonic she needed for that added push to her performance. “I am making all the necessary preparations for the performance to make sure it becomes almost second nature, but knowing I have the support of my country will naturally give me an extra push,” she said.

“I think the contest has always been a way to bring the country together, and as a competitor in 2002, I remember that was one of the most important elements,” Losco said.

Losco said ‘Walk on Water’ was emblematic of her own personality, saying that its message was one of “achieving the impossible and never giving up on yourself”.

“Life, as we all know can be very hard and it is full of ups and downs, but I truly believe that staying positive will make it easier to achieve seemingly impossible goals,” she said.

Losco said the video to ‘Walk on Water’ presents her at her most natural. “It also features a number of shots of various locations around the island, a feature I’m sure will be appreciated by viewers from other countries.”

She said the ESC had changed extensively over the past 14 years, when in 2002 her song ‘Seventh Wonder’ placed second in the competition. She said it was these changes that encouraged her to throw her hat back in the ring.

Losco said that many of the songs to be played in Sweden are, as expected, in line with the current tastes of the music industry. “The songs that have particularly struck me are the French entry, which makes reference to events of 2015, as well as the Russian and Spanish entries, among others. It will be a high-quality competition, similar to last year’s.”